"Magallanes,"
also known as "Rey Fernando" was the last galleon sailed from Cavite to Acapulco
from 1810 to 1821, Mexicans were involved in a war of independence
against their Spanish colonial masters. During this time of conflicts in
Mexico, the Manila/Acapulco Galleon Trade came to an end. When Mexico
declared its independence and since we were a vice-royalty of our viceroy Mexico,
we too should have been considered liberated from the Spanish rule.
Unfortunately the Spanish Catholic clergy, the interim Governor-General
Mariano Fernandez Folguerras and Spain's loyalists in the Philippines
opted to follow Mexico, the Philippines would have been a sovereign
state in 1821.
In 1823, an order from Spain, declared that
military officers commissioned in the Peninsula (Spain) should have
precedence of all those appointed in the Colonies. This reaction of
Madrid government was to prevent the series of wars against Spanish rule
that was known as the Spanish American wars of independence. The fact
that Creoles started the revolution in the Americas taught Madrid a
lesson that the Filipino/Creoles too could be a danger and therefore
should not be trusted; they should not continue to control the military.
Many Creole (also called "Insulares" or "Filipinos" Spanish born in the
Philippines) military officers were outranked by their Peninsular
(Spaniards from Spain) counterparts. In short, the Filipino/Creole was
inferior to the Peninsular or Spanish-born.
Creole military
officer Andres Novales was unhappy with the treatment of Spanish Cortes
on Creoles like him. His resentment grew when Peninsulares were shipped
to the Philippines to replace Creole officers. He found sympathy of many
Creoles, including Luis Rodriguez Varela - the "Conde Filipino," the
Pelaez, the De Taveras, Burgos, Zobels and the Regidors. As punishment
to the rising sense of discontentment, many military officers and public
officials were exiled and one of them was Andres Novales, who was
exiled to Mindanao to fight pirates. This did not stop Novales, he
secretly return to Manila and on the night of June 1, 1823, Novales
along with a lieutenant and other subordinates in the King's Regiment,
with 800 Filipino/Creoles in which his sergeants recruited, went out to
start a revolt, known as the "Palmero Conspiracy." They seized the royal
palace, the Manila Cathedral, the city hall and other important
government buildings in Manila (Intramuros). They killed the
lieutenant-governor and former Governor-General Mariano Fernandez de
Folgueras (who suggested Madrid government to replace creole officers
with peninsulars). The soldiers shouted.. "Viva la Independencia!" and
"Viva El Emperador Novales!"
The Manilenos followed Novales and
his troops as they march on the streets of Manila (Intramuros). At dawn
they continued to march to Fort Santiago, but eventually failed to
seize the fort because Antonio Novales, his brother who commanded the
fortress, refused to open its gates. When Governor-General Juan Antonio
Martinez learned that Fort Santiago was still holding out the rebels,
his soldiers were rushed to the fort. Novales himself was caught hiding
under Puerta Real by Spanish soldiers. At 5:00 pm of June 2, Novales was
killed with his subordinate lieutenant and 21 sergeants by firing squad
in a garden near Puerta del Postigo. Andres Novales at his last minute,
declared that he and his comrades shall set an example of fighting for
freedom. Antonio Novales was supposed to be executed with the rebels,
since he was the brother of Andres, however, the people pleaded for his
life for he saved the government from being overthrown. Antonio went
crazy after the ordeal, but received a monthly pension of 14 pesos from
the Spanish Cortes.
Antonio and Andres Novales were also known
as "Palmero brothers," members of a prominent clan in the Philippines,
along with other people from both the military and the civil service,
planned to seize the government. Such was the prominence of the
Palmeros, one of whose most famous descendants was Marcelo Azcarraga
Palmero (Prime Minister of Spain in the 1890s which calle Azcarraga (now
Recto) was named after him), that when the Spanish government
discovered the plan, they thought it would be proper not to announce it
to the public. The plot itself would embarrass the government since the
conspirators were Spaniards and it would seem that Spaniards themselves
would want to overthrow the power of Spain in the country. The failed
"Palmero Conspiracy" inspired the ranks of the ilustrados, specially
Jose Rizal.
On the night of July 3, 1892, at a house in Tondo,
Jose Rizal found and inaugurated "La Liga Filipina" but only after three
days in existence, he was caught, convicted and deported in Dapitan. On
July 7, 1892, upon learning that Rizal was deported, a secret council
was called in at # 72 corner of Azcarraga Street and Elcano, San
Nicolas/Binondo. In attendance were Andres Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano,
Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, Jose Dizon and few members
of La Liga Filipina. The Liga membership split into two groups: the
conservatives formed the "Cuerpo de Compromisarios" which pledged to
continue supporting the reformist propaganda group "La Solidaridad."
The radicals led by Bonifacio devoted themselves to a new and secret
society, the Kataastaasang Kagalang-Kagalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng
Bayan was born. The objectives of the Katipunan, as a socialist
brotherhood was popularly known, were:
1) To advocate complete independence from Spain, to be achieved through armed struggle.
2) To take back lands, gold, personal savings, personal properties
"confiscated" by the church and Spanish Cortes from the poor masses.
They also saw it as their personal responsibility to help the poor, the
oppressed and to teach them good manners, hygiene and morality.
3) To dismiss the elite society and social classes, instead create an equal social status.
Andres Bonifacio, one of the more prominent founders of the Katipunan
was not its first Supremo or the President of the Supreme Council. On
July 15, 1892, the members of the Supreme Council were Deodato Arellano
(Supremo), Andres Bonifacio (Comptroller), Ladislao Diwa (Fiscal),
Teodoro Plata (Secretary) and Valentin Diaz (Treasurer). The legislative
body of the Katipunan was known as the Katipunan Assembly and it was
composed of the members of the Supreme Council, along with the
presidents of the popular and provincial councils. Judicial power rested
in the "Sangguniang Hukuman," which were provincial courts that decided
on internal matters; however, judgement on grave matters (such as
betraying the Katipunan or committing acts penalized by the
organization’s laws) were meted by the "Secret Chamber," composed of
Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and Dr. Pio Valenzuela.
Members of the Katipunan were unsatisfied with Arellano's performance as
Supremo, Bonifacio and the Sangguniang Hukuman later had him deposed
and elected Roman Basa as Supremo on February 1, 1893. The Supreme
Council was then composed of Basa, Jose Turiano Santiago (Secretary),
Andres Bonifacio (Fiscal) and Vicente Molina (Treasurer).
Bonifacio would only become the Supremo on January 5, 1894, with
Santiago (Secretary), Emilio Jacinto (Fiscal) and Vicente Molina
(Treasurer). Further reorganization in 1896 led to Jacinto becoming
Secretary and Pio Valenzuela as Fiscal. The Supreme Council in August
1896, preceding the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution, was led by
Bonifacio as the Supremo with Jacinto as Secretary of State, Teodoro
Plata as Secretary of War, Briccio Pantas as Secretary of Justice,
Aguedo del Rosario as Secretary of Interior, and Enrique Pacheco as
Secretary of Finance. Before the outbreak of the revolution, therefore,
Bonifacio organized the Katipunan into a government revolving around a
"cabinet" composed of his trusted men.
A meeting was held on
August 24 and was decided to notify the Katipunan councils of the
surrounding towns that a general attack on the capital Manila was
planned for August 29. Bonifacio appointed generals to lead rebel forces
to Manila. Before hostilities erupted, Bonifacio also reorganized the
Katipunan into an open Revolutionary Government, him as President and
the Supreme Council of the Katipunan as his cabinet. The Supremo formed
the "Kataastaasang Kapulungan" (Supreme Council), declaring an armed
revolution against Spain. It was in the same meeting that they
established the Katipunan as a national government and held an election
of officials to lead the army and the nation. The intention of Supremo
Bonifacio was to have the Katipunan govern the whole Philippines after
the overthrow of Spanish rule.
Official letters and one
appointment paper of Bonifacio addressed to Emilio Jacinto reveal
Bonifacio's various titles and designations, as follows:
# President of the Supreme Council
# Supreme President
# President of **"Haring Bayang Katagalugan" (Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan or Sovereign Tagalog Nation)
# President of the Sovereign Nation, Founder of the Katipunan, Initiator of the Revolution
# Office of the Supreme President, Government of the Revolution
a)**"Haring Bayang Katagalugan" (Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan or
Sovereign Tagalog Nation), Katipunan secret society extended the meaning
of these terms to all natives in the Philippine islands.
b)**"Sa
salitang Tagalog katutura’y ang lahat nang tumubo sa Sangkapuluang ito;
sa makatuid, Bisaya man, Iloko man, Kapangpangan man, atbp..., ay
Tagalog din." (The word tagalog means all those born in this
archipelago; therefore, though Visayan, Ilocano, Pampango, etc. they are
all Tagalogs.)
c)**Bonifacio defined "Tagalog" as the term for all
Filipinos and not only those who spoke the language. In referring to the
nation as Katagalugan, Bonifacio went against the colonial "Filipinas."
Philippine society; peninsulares, insulares, indio/tagalog, sangley)
The term Tagalog refers to both an ethno-linguistic group in the
Philippines and their language. Katagalugan may refer to the historical
Tagalog regions in the island of Luzon, part of the Philippine islands.
An 1897 power struggle and the snap election in Cavite led to command
of the revolution shifting to Emilio Aguinaldo at the Tejeros
Convention, where a new ilustrado government was formed after Andres
Bonifacio - the First President of our country was executed. The
Aguinaldo-headed "Republica Filipina" (Philippine Republic), considered
by the Americans and sajonistas as the "First Philippine Republic," was
formally established in 1899, after a succession of revolutionary and
dictatorial governments (the Tejeros government, the surrender and
selling of the revolution at Biak-na-Bato Republic) also headed by
Aquinaldo.
- ka tony
- the 20th of November '13
